Sunday, May 29, 2005

Shall address my absence from the HockeyNation blogzone in a day or so, suffice to say with no NHL to watch I went on with my life, which actually became rather busy (alas unpaid) for May.

But til I compose those thoughts, I found this tidbit rather entertaining. The horned stickmen refuse to change their name. With no contracts to negotiate and not trades to make, Leapin' Lou Lamoriello is reduced to battling bizarre motions from politicians.

While the Canadians won't be taking Slovenia lightly, they most likely will have one eye on the game coming up on Thursday against the USA. That one wraps up the round robin aspect of the competition and will set the tone for both teams for the rest of the tournament.

The AHL playoffs continue along towards the Calder Cup finals. With the first round out of the way now, there are some surprising entries for the championship trophy. The Manitoba Moose dismissed the St. John's Maple Leafs with consecutive wins at the MTS centre to send the Leafs packing (for good as it turns out, they now move on to life in Toronto and a new home at the Ricoh centre). Rochester swept the Hamilton Bulldogs out of the playoff race in record time, sending the Bulldogs to the golf courses in four straight games.

Cincinnati surprised a heavy favorite in Milwaukee taking the series in seven games. Likewise Providence and Lowell played giant slayers toppling favored Hartford and Manchester teams in the first round.

But by far the biggest surprise (but then again maybe not) was the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins toppling of the Binghampton Senators in six games, coming back from a two game deficit to knock off the Sens in four straight. The Senators were high flyers all year, stocked with a number of NHL stars courtesy of the NHL lockout. Unfortunately the NHLers must have brought some of that Ottawa playoff karma with them. Like the big boys, the Jr Sens were prime time in the regular season and off the air in the playoffs. Sometimes you can stick to a game plan a little too closely!